Shimron Hetmyer's series of missed opportunities

Shimron Hetmyer grimaced. There was just one fielder in front of square on the off side - extra cover - and he had picked him out with precision with an airy drive.

Ishant Sharma, from around the wicket, had bowled it full and wide, to entice the drive, with three slips and a gully waiting for the edge and extra cover waiting for the uppish drive. It was an obvious trap, and Hetmyer had fallen for it.

The ball wasn't quite a half-volley, and it was well outside Hetmyer's eyeline when he met it. Few batsmen can feel confident of being fully in control while driving balls that wide, and Hetmyer was batting on 1 when he played that shot.

It was the fourth time in four innings in this series that Hetmyer had fallen to a drive away from his body. Twice he had driven with hard hands, well in front of his body; once, he was caught-and-bowled by Ishant, and the other time bowled through the gate by Mohammed Shami. Twice he had been out driving at balls wide of off stump - caught at third slip off Ishant, and, now, caught at extra cover.

The first-innings dismissal in Jamaica prompted his captain, Jason Holder, to turn his back to Hetmyer at the non-striker's end. You could understand his frustration; a red-hot Jasprit Bumrah had reduced West Indies to 22 for 5, and their innings had briefly looked like it could end in less than 20 overs.

Holder had himself bowled 32.1 overs in India's first innings. Then Hetmyer and he had put together something approaching a partnership. It hadn't been the most secure of stands - Hetmyer had been dropped once, and had played-and-missed and edged numerous times, including three fours through and over the slip cordon in one over - but it had added 45 runs to West Indies' score, in 12 overs.

Holder must have been pleading with Hetmyer during the breaks between overs. Please, just hang in there. Play close to your body. Please.

And then that shot.

After the match was done and dusted, Holder wore a resigned look when he was interviewed by Ian Bishop at the presentation ceremony. "We were just commenting in the dressing room," he said. "We've been in the field every single day of this Test series, from the first Test match to this one."

That's right. West Indies' bowlers never got the chance to put their feet up and get a full day's rest. In all, West Indies' batsmen faced 1253 balls through the Test series. That's less than the combined total of India's top-three run-getters.

Through the series, West Indies lost a wicket every 31.23 balls. India's bowlers earned most of those wickets, with exceptional deliveries or by applying concerted pressure and forcing errors. Hetmyer, one of West Indies' top two or three batsmen in terms of pure ability, should be disappointed that his wicket proved so much easier to get, time after time.